[RWebb]

"generate enough electricity for a small house in the Houston area"

No. Unless you plan to suffer along w/o a/c. People survived that way long ago - does not mean it is fun.

You could put up a bunch of PV panels, collect a govt. subsidy to help w/the cost; feel good about it; and sell to the elec. co. or keep the watts on site... it would likely be "booster power" not handle all your needs.

that would help quite a bit but not pay for itself over 10, or even 20 years.

Now if you wait 10 years, we will likely have some nice cheap PV panels out there... it's all relative.